Circaetus
Genus of birds
title: "Circaetus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["circaetus", "bird-genera", "birds-of-prey-of-africa", "eagles", "taxa-named-by-louis-pierre-vieillot"] description: "Genus of birds" topic_path: "general/circaetus" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circaetus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Genus of birds ::
| image = PikiWiki Israel 43227 Wildlife and Plants of Israel.JPG | image_caption = Short-toed snake eagle (Circaetus gallicus) | taxon = Circaetus | authority = Vieillot, 1816 | type_species = Falco gallicus | type_species_authority= Gmelin, 1788
Circaetus, the snake eagles, is a genus of medium-sized eagles in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. They are mainly resident African species, but the migratory short-toed snake eagle breeds from the Mediterranean basin into Russia, the Middle East and India, and winters in sub-Saharan Africa and east to Indonesia.
Snake eagles are found in open habitats like cultivated plains arid savanna, but require trees in which to build a stick nest. The single egg is incubated mainly or entirely by the female.
Circaetus eagles have a rounded head and broad wings. They prey on reptiles, mainly snakes, but also take lizards and occasionally small mammals.
Taxonomy and species
The genus Circaetus was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot to accommodate a single species, the short-toed snake eagle, which is therefore considered the type species. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek kirkos, a type of hawk, and aetos, "eagle".
The genus contains seven species.
::data[format=table]
| Image | Common name | Scientific name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| [[File:Western banded snake eagle (Circaetus cinerascens).jpg | 120px]] | Western banded snake eagle | Circaetus cinerascens |
| [[File:Circaetus fasciolatus, Chiboma, Sofala, Birding Weto, a.jpg | 120px]] | Southern banded snake eagle | Circaetus fasciolatus |
| [[File:DryotriorchisSpectabilisSmit.jpg | 120px]] | Congo serpent eagle | Circaetus spectabilis |
| [[File:Flickr - Rainbirder - Beaudouin's Snake Eagle (Circaetus beaudouini).jpg | 120px]] | Beaudouin's snake eagle | Circaetus beaudouini |
| [[File:Black-chested snake-eagle (Circaetus pectoralis).jpg | 120px]] | Black-chested snake eagle | Circaetus pectoralis |
| [[File:Short-toed Snake Eagle perched.jpg | 120px]] | Short-toed snake eagle | Circaetus gallicus |
| [[File:Brown snake eagle, Kruger National Park (38184851511).jpg | 120px]] | Brown snake eagle | Circaetus cinereus |
| :: |
Fossil record
Circaetus rhodopensis (late Miocene of Bulgaria)
Circaetus haemusensis (early Pleistocene of Bulgaria)
References
References
- Vieillot, Louis Pierre. (1816). "Analyse d'une Nouvelle Ornithologie Élémentaire". Deterville/self.
- (1979). "Check-List of Birds of the World". Museum of Comparative Zoology.
- Jobling, James A.. (2010). "The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names". Christopher Helm.
- (February 2025). "Hoatzin, New World vultures, Secretarybird, raptors". International Ornithologists' Union.
- Boev, Z. 2012. ''Circaetus rhodopensis'' sp. n. (Aves, Accipitriformes) from the Late Miocene of Hadzhidimovo (SW Bulgaria). - Acta zoologica bulgarica, 64 (1): 5-12.
- Boev, Z. 2015. An Early Pleistocene Snake-eagle (''Circaetus haemusensis'' sp. n. - Aves, Accipitriformes) from Varshets (NW Bulgaria). – Acta zoologica bulgarica. 67 (1), 2015: 127-138.
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